What I love about Christmas is that it's is the bredele period.
Bredele (pronounced "brédeuleu" in Alsatian), it means "small cakes".
And it is traditional in Alsace to cook them at Christmas to offer them to those we love.
There are dozens of kinds, with different shapes and tastes (anise, chocolate, jam, etc.).
But the most traditional (and the best, in my opinion!) are the "ButterBredele" ("small butter cakes").
In addition, the recipe is really very quick and easy to make at home .
Here is the traditional recipe for delicious Alsatian bredele with butter:
Quantity for 60 bredele
- 500g organic T45 flour
- 300g butter at room temperature
- 250g blond cane sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 organic egg yolks (for gilding)
- 1 sachet of vanilla sugar
- 1/2 sachet of baking powder
- cookie cutters
1. Break the whole eggs into a bowl.
2. Add the cane sugar and vanilla sugar.
3. Mix vigorously immediately with a whisk.
4. Beat until the mixture whitens slightly.
5. In another bowl, mix the flour and the softened butter with your fingertips. You should get a sandy paste.
6. In this second bowl, add the sugar/egg mixture from step 4.
7. Add the baking powder.
8. Knead the dough for a few minutes with a wooden spatula, then with your hands.
9. Once the dough is compact and homogeneous, roll it out to a thickness of about 4 mm using a lightly floured rolling pin.
10. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters.
11. Form a ball of dough with the scraps, roll it out again and start making small shapes again until all the dough is used up.
12. Arrange the bredele delicately on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
13. Beat the two egg yolks in a bowl.
14. Using a brush, brush the cupcakes with egg yolks.
15. Bake the plate in the oven, previously heated to 180°C, for 10 to 15 min.
16. Take out the bredele when they begin to brown.
17. Very carefully remove each cake from the plate.
18. Let the bredele cool on a wire rack.
There you go, your homemade bredele are already ready to be tasted :-)
Easy, fast and economical, right?
Be careful, they are VERY fragile when they are still hot!
In addition, what is good is that they can easily be kept for several weeks in a metal box.
Do not hesitate to make them with your children! They will love making them with pretty cookie cutters in different shapes (fir tree, angel, sleigh, shooting star, Santa Claus, little heart, etc.).
- When you knead the dough (step 8), you can let the dough rest so that it is easier to work with. To do this, wrap it in cling film and let it rest for 30 minutes to 1 hour in the fridge. Then take it out of the fridge and knead it a little to soften it.
- You can add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to the dough if you like, it's delicious.
- Also try replacing the egg wash with a sugar-based frosting. For this, you need 1 unbeaten egg white, a few drops of lemon (to make it shine) and 200 g of icing sugar. Mix everything and brush the bredele before cooking. Yum!
Have you tried this recipe? Tell us in comments if you liked it. We can't wait to read you!
